Psalm 30 ERV; Lord, you lifted me out of my troubles. You did not give my enemies a reason to laugh, so I will praise you. Lord my God, I prayed to you, and you healed me.  Lord, you lifted me out of the grave. I was falling into the place of death, but you saved my life. Praise the Lord, you who are loyal to him! Praise his holy name! His anger lasts for a little while, but then his kindness brings life. The night may be filled with tears, but in the morning we can sing for joy! When I was safe and secure, I thought nothing could hurt me. Yes, Lord, while you were kind to me, I felt that nothing could defeat me. But when you turned away from me, I was filled with fear.  So, Lord, I turned and prayed to you. I asked you, Lord, to show me mercy.  I said, “What good is it if I die and go down to the grave? The dead just lie in the dirt. They cannot praise you. They cannot tell anyone how faithful you are.  Lord, hear my prayer, and be kind to me. Lord, help me!”  You have changed my sorrow into dancing. You have taken away my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. You wanted me to praise you and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever!

Notice that David knew when the Lord turned from Him, he was filled with fear. What did he do? He turned! That means he recognized he was going the wrong way and he turned or changed his direction. Secondly he asked for mercy. He knew that God was a merciful God but just because you know something, doesn’t make it so. He asked for mercy. God wants you to ask. He’s simply waiting on you to open your mouth and ask. Lastly, he reminded God that the dead can’t praise Him, they can’t tell others of His great faithfulness and unfailing love.

I believe there is a very powerful message here in this Psalm. There is one thing that God wants from us and that is praise. It doesn’t matter what you’re experiencing in your life, if you will take time to remember what the Lord has done for you and praise him, something on the inside of you changes. If you’re falling, praise will catch you and put you upright again. If you’re in the middle of a chaotic battle, He will pluck you out and place you on a Rock. Praise reminds you that what He did before, He’ll do it again.

Remember the time you were out of food and someone brought you groceries? Only God could have known that. Remember when you were lonely, just needing someone to talk to and your phone rang? Yeah, that was God. Remember when you thought you were going to lose your job and you cried to the Lord for mercy and although 20 people from your department were cut, you were promoted to another department? Yeah, that too was God. How about the time your child was so sick? You had no insurance, no money and you cried out to God, the fever broke and they slept peacefully through the night. That too was God.

Sometimes we get our focus in the wrong direction and we turn from God. Our trust becomes in us and not Him, that’s when fear sets in. Fear separates us from God and when we feel alone and wonder where God is, we must change direction, ask for mercy and praise Him for His faithfulness and constant love. No one likes to continue doing good and not be recognized, yet we do it to God all the time. Let’s praise Him. If God’s been good to you, praise Him! Let’s change our focus and watch God do what only He can do.